The ground is smooth earth and scattered pebbles; the forest is pale, silken bark and new leaves fluttering against the star-specked sky. The water, rippling in the moonlight, is clear. I put a tentative hand back against the mended earth.It’s done.
I want to sink to the ground and curl up and never move.
But then a strange, sharppulljolts against my ribs. I stagger, nearly falling, as the earth turns darker and darker beneath my hand. Thin rivulets of shadow spread out around me, up toward the forest, and back down into the lake. There’s atremor, and then—a wound opens, tearing through the ground from my hands all the way to the edge of the water.
I hear Clover cry out, and Arien takes a step across the sigil. I throw out my hand to stop him. “No! Don’t come close. It might—”
He stumbles back. I bend down and shove my hands into the ground. The Corruption rises quickly, wrapping around me until my wrists are snared. It tightens and tightens, a painful, crushing grip. The light of my magic flares up from beneath the mud. The sigil burns brightly, the intricate lines brilliant gold against the blackened earth.
I close my eyes and force all my weight against the ground. My heart beats desperately against my ribs. The world is too bright, too hot.
From far off comes the heavy sound of footsteps. Rowan runs to me, his boots smearing the sigil, fracturing the spell. Light scatters as the lines break apart. He grabs my shoulder. “Leta, you can’t do this. You can’t—”
He cuts off to a sudden, choked silence.
The ground shudders and he shudders. Blood stains the corners of his eyes. He blinks, and it spreads across his irises until they’re crimson. At his throat the darkness writhes, the shadows unfold. I see him try to fight it: his teeth clenched, his breath fast. His scars tear open, and blackened water streams out from the wounds.
And then, just like in the garden, he’sgone.
My hands are trapped by the earth, and I can’t get free. Ihiss out a sharp, pained cry as he grabs my wrist. I try to pull loose, but he tightens his hold on me. “Rowan,fight it—”
But he can’t; he’s caught; he’s lost. I close my eyes and try to feel the magic strung between us. I picture the thread of power held tight in my hands. I pull on the lingering magic and try to subdue him, just like I did before.
“Lie still, lie still.” The words come out like a chant. “Quiet, stay quiet.”
Blood runs from my nose as the crescent mark on my palm beats and beats. The whole world is heat and hurt and power.Mypower. The thread of magic wants to slip from my grasp. But I hold it tight.
I pull and pull and pull.
Rowan lets go of me and falls to his knees with a gasp. He has a hand at his throat. He takes another ragged breath. Then his eyes blink clear. “Leta, you have to stop the ritual.”
“I can’t.” My voice sticks on the edge of a sob. “If I stop, it will only get worse.”
He spits out a mouthful of ink-dark water. “Let it claim me—I don’t care. I won’t let you be hurt.”
I shake my head, tears spilling from my eyes. I can’t let go. The Corruption is quiet; I have it held, have Rowan held. But the poison isn’t gone. I look down into the open ground, that endless, depthless dark. I was supposed to be able to mend it.
Then I understand.
This darkness before me isn’t a wound. It’s a path.
And I have to follow.
I’m so afraid. I’m so afraid. I don’t want to do this. But I have to.
“Rowan.” All I can see is thatpath, waiting to lead me into the lake. “I can’t mend the Corruption here. I have to mend it in the world Below.”
As soon as I’ve spoken, the earth that’s trapped my wrists uncoils.
Rowan looks at me, his expression raw and wounded. “Leta,no.”
“I have to,” I tell him. “I have to do this, or it will never stop. It will spread; it will claim you; it will claim everything.”
Arien comes over and puts his hands on my shoulders. Although his cheeks are tear stained, he looks at me evenly. “I’ll hold it back for you while you’re gone. Clover and I both will, just like in the garden.”
His jaw is set, and his shoulders are squared. He has the same expression he wore the night after the first ritual, when he wasn’t afraid of his power anymore. “I can do this, Leta.Wecan do this.”
I pull him close and hold him tightly. I can feel the frightened beat of his heart against my chest. He grasps me back, just as tight, then lets me go.
